Woike: JJ Redick will ‘ultimately’ be head coach, James Borrego could be lead assistant

The Lakers may not be formally moving forward in their search for a head coach, but all signs point to JJ Redick being the next head coach with a potential notable assistant.

The silence surrounding the Lakers coach search is deafening in many ways. The fact that we are this far removed from Darvin Ham's firing and the rumors are non-existent would certainly seem to suggest a reason for that.

With JJ Redick unable to join the team due to his obligations with ESPN and covering the Finals and all the smoke pointing in his direction, it certainly feels like the Lakers are simply waiting for the season to come to announce Redick.

That feeling is one shared by many around the league, including Dan Woike of the LA Times. On a recent appearance on Roggin & Rodney on ESPN 570 in LA, Woike provided some insight into the coaching search, including a potential assistant coach as well.

“Look, I think they’re going to ultimately land on JJ Redick. I think that seems like, the momentum is moving in that direction and it has been for a long time. I can say that James Borrego impressed a lot of people this week. I can also say that I think, should JJ Redick get the head coaching job, the Lakers will have significant interest in trying to lure James Borrego for a top assistant position.”

If this was reporting in a vacuum, then perhaps it could be taken with a grain of salt. But time and time again, we’ve seen people mention the same thing in that the momentum is behind Redick.

The interesting aspect of this is that James Borrego could be a potential assistant coach. He’s been one of the few to meet with the Lakers after visiting the team for an in-person interview, but it’s unclear if that was something discussed in the interview.

Currently, he’s the associate head coach for the Pelicans. There isn’t a high spot on the bench aside from the head coach himself. Perhaps money could be a motivating factor or a different challenge than the one in New Orleans.

Perhaps he sees a clearer path to a potential head coach position with the Lakers than with the Pelicans. It certainly seems like it’d be a win to get him on the staff, considering the experience he has as a coach and his connection with Anthony Davis.

For now, all of this is lots of guessing and hypothesizing, something fans and media alike have been forced to do with the silence from the Lakers.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.